Improvement in portable railway-tracks



UNITEDSTATES PATENT QFFIOE.

FREDERICK B. MILE AND ROBER M. MILES, OF PHILADELPHIA, PA., ASSIGNORS To ROBERT M. MILES, OF SAME PLAoE.

IMPROVEMENT IN PORTABLE RAILWAY-TRACKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 201792, dated September 3, 1878; application filed August 10, 1878.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, FREDERICK B. MILES and ROBERT M. MILES, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Connections for Railroad- Tracks, of which the following is a specification:

Our invention relates to an improvement in that class of railroad-tracks which are made in sections, two rails with transverse crossbars in each section, for use on plantations and other localities where cheap and easilylaid tracks are in demand; and the object of our improvement is to so construct the ends of adjoining sections and so adapt them to each other that they shall be self-retainin g in their proper lateral and vertical position in relation to each other, and this object we attain in the following manner, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view, partly in section, of portions of two adjoining sectionsoi a railroad-track; Fig. 2, part of Fig. 1, showing the manner of fitting the sections together; Fig. 3, an end view of one of the sections; Fig. 4:, a side view; and Fig. 5, a plan view, showing sections laid at an angle in respect to each other.

A and A" represent the end portions of two adjoining sections of a railroad-track; B B, the two rails D the end cross-bar of the section A; B B, the rails, and D the end crossbar of the adjoining section A.

We prefer to make the cross-bars, of which there are an appropriate number in each section, of T-iron, the rails being riveted to the cross-bars.

All the rails of the two sections are beveled preferably to an angle of forty-five degrees, the beveled portions of the rails of each section bearin g such relation to the end crossbar that the pointed ends 00 of the said rails will extend beyond the cross-bar.

WVhen two adjoining sections are fitted together the projecting pointed ends of the rails of one section will bear on the crossbar of the adjoining section, as shown in Fig. 2, so that the end of one section of the track cannot be raised independently of the end of the other section.

We bevel the ends of the rails of the two sections in the manner shown in Fig. 1, so that when the sections are fitted together they will be self-retaining in their proper lateral position; but for this purpose we rely, in addition, upon lips a a, one at each end of the end cross-bar of each section, so that thepointed ends of the rails of the section A will fit into the angular spaces 3 of the section A, the lips on the cross-bar D of the Section A thus serving to insure the coincidence of the rails of one section with those of the other.

When the track has to be laid on a curve the sections may be arranged at an angle in respect to each other, in which case the pointed ends of the rails will continue to perform the duty of maintaining the rails of adjoining sections in their proper relative position. (See Fig. 5.)

We claim as our invention- 1. The combination of the end cross-bar D and beveled rails of one section of a railroadtrack and the end cross-bar D and beveled ends of the rails of an adjoining section, the projecting ends of the rails of one section being arranged to bear on the end cross-bar of the adjoining section, all substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of the two sections having beveled rails with cross-bars D D, having lips a, as specified.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FREDERICK B. MILES. ROBERT M. MILES.

Witnesses HENRY HowsoN, J 1 HARRY SMITH. 

